Vice Admiral (ret) Raquel Cruz Bono, MD, MBA, FACS

Commissioned in June 1979, Raquel Bono obtained her baccalaureate degree from the University of Texas at Austin and attended medical school at Texas Tech University. She completed a surgical internship and a General Surgery residency at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, and a Trauma and Critical Care fellowship at the Eastern Virginia Graduate School of Medicine in Norfolk. Shortly after training, Bono saw duty in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm as head, Casualty Receiving, Fleet Hospital 5 in Saudi Arabia. Her various clinical leadership appointments included division head of Trauma; head of the Ambulatory Procedures Department (APD); chair of the Laboratory Animal Care and Use Committee; and chair of the Medical Records Committee. As a senior military officer, Bono held a number of executive leadership positions at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland; Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery; U.S. Pacific Command, Hawaii; Walter Reed National Military Medical Center; and culminating in the director, Defense Health Agency and Vice Admiral, US Navy.

Bono is a diplomat of the American Board of Surgery and also has an Executive MBA from the Carson College of Business at Washington State University. Her personal decorations include a Defense Superior Service Medal, three Legion of Merit Medals, two Meritorious Service Medals, and two Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals. She has been recognized by Modern Healthcare as one of 50 Most Influential Clinical Leaders (2019) and one of the Most Influential Healthcare Physician Executives and Leaders (2018).